Author: FHadmin

It Started With A Pulley

Posted on by FHadmin

Charles F.Peelle, a businessman and a fourth cousin to my great-grandfather William Johnson Peelle, got involved with the local safety gate company.  When the owner sold out, Charles and his business partner purchased the company.  Charles would file for the company’s first patent.  This led to a family business that would exist across three centuries.

 

Who was Charles?

Charles F. Peelle was born to Henry and Mary (Morris) Peelle in 1857 at their home northeast of Cambridge City, Indiana, which was twenty miles west of Richmond. He was one of twelve or thirteen children (a source says there were 13, but I have only found 12). 

The large family belonged to the Society of Friends.  They were very active within the organization and at least a portion of the family, including Charles, continued throughout their adulthood.  Charles belonged to the South Eighth Street Friends Church and was clerk of the Richmond Preparative Meeting of Orthodox Friends.

Charles was a business man.  His primary business at his office at 901 Main St. was selling real estate and insurance.  Additionally, he became involved in various businesses in the area.  For example, he was one of the directors of the Diamond Roller-Skate Company, which had $100,000 in capital stock in 1884.  He would not have yet been 30 years of age.

Charles was also active in the community in other ways and was said to be a “hardworking, energetic, and upright man.”

 

Safety Gates

John G. Zeller, a member of a prominent local family, started a business in 1880 to manufacture safety gates.  These gates enclosed elevators and pre-dated elevator doors.  He received a patent on his design and ran the business until 1890 when he accepted a position at the American Biscuit Company.  As such, he sold his safety gate business at 914 Main St. to Charles and George H. Knollenberg.  At the time the company had 4 employees.

 

In Business

George became the president of the small company with Charles as vice-president.  Immediately, Charles and George grew the business.  In 1892, the business moved to a new building at North 15th St. near the Pennsylvania Railroad.

With a larger facility, the company was able to accommodate a larger staff.  They began establishing agencies in major cities coast to coast.  Then the Panic of 1893, an economic depression, hit in February.  In May, a major company went bankrupt and the Dow Jones dropped 24% in one day.

Still, Charles and George’s company pressed on.  But, by the end of September, they didn’t have steady work.  Orders were few and those that they were getting were small.  After a few weeks, they were half-time.  By mid-December they were working 12 men 9 hours a day for 1/3 of the days; whereas, full time was 16 men.  They shut down on December 23 and were unsure when they would reopen.

Fortunately, the depression was short lived and the company was able to continue in business. 

 

An image from Patent 542,348.

The First Patent

Charles was busy at work with ideas for improvements to the safety gates.  On October 17, 1894, Charles filed a patent with the U.S. Patent Office for his invention that provided a

“means by which a safety-gate may be held rigidly in a raised position while the elevator is flush with the floor and is made to descend automatically by the elevator-platform ascending or descending from its position, the elevator platform being  permitted to ascend through the successive floors without disturbing the safety-gates in their positions closing the said openings in the floors.” (Source: Patent 542,348, July 9, 1895)

His design included a pulley, a wheel, a tooth bar and more. 

In July 1895, Charles was granted  patent 542,348 for his invention.  To view the patent, enter 0542348 in the patent search field on the Patent Public Search page of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The patent and the process show me two things: 1) Patents in the late 1800s were just as confusing as patents today. 2) The patent process took a lot less time in the 1800s than it has in recent years.  None of Rod or my patents went through in such a short interval.

 

An image from Patent 683,102.

Incorporation

Three years later, the company added fire doors to their product offerings.  And, in April 1899, Charles and George incorporated their business as Richmond Safety Gate Company with capital stock of $40,000.  At the same time that they incorporated their safety gate business, they also incorporated Eureka Fence Manufacturing Company with capital stock of $10,000 with a share price of $100.

At the end of the next year, Charles filed another invention with the U.S. Patent Office.  With Clarence L. Colby, he had invented a door operating device for “doors adapted to be raised and lowered by counterbalancing-weights and to be entirely out of the way when not in use.”  Their invention included “a novel construction and arrangement by means of which doors might be operated to open and close doors easily and quickly” Pulleys were again involved. 

Charles and Clarence were issued patent 683,102 on September 24, 1901.  To view the patent, enter 0683102 in the patent search field on the Patent Public Search page of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Death Comes Calling

Charles venture with the Richmond Safety Gate Company ended abruptly just over two months later. He died on December 9, 1901.  He was only 45.

The newspaper reported that his death was due to pleuro-pneumonia.  However, his death certificate states that the pneumonia was only a contributing factor.  It states that the primary cause of death was cerebral neurasthenia.

Businessmen were said to be particularly prone to this condition if they were stressed and overworked.  It was said that America’s competitive culture led to this disease and it was referred to as “Americanitis.”  The sufferers were said to have fatigue, upset stomach, spinal irritation, weakness, dizziness, and more.  It is no longer a diagnosis in the United States.

I do not know the symptoms Charles experienced.  However, I think a reasonable theory is that he simply died from exhaustion, having put so much energy into business.

 

The Company Lives On

Although the company had lost their vice-president and manager, they announced that no changes would be made to leadership until the following year.  Despite multiple of Charles’ brothers being involved in the company, it was his business partner George who bought Charles’ share in the company.  He also took on the manager responsibility, devoting a portion of his time to that role.

 

The Philadelphia Lawsuit

The following year, the Richmond Safety Gate Company sued the city of Philadelphia.  They claimed that they were being discriminated against and not being allowed to do business in the city.  They had been selling their safety gates in Philadelphia for eight years when they suddenly couldn’t sell their product anymore.

They alleged conspiracy between individuals in the local government and certain providers of competing products.  The city had notified them not to install any more fully automatic safety gates and had informed businesses to not purchase any automatic safety gates in favor of semi-automatic gates. 

The claim was that the fully automatic safety gates were less safe.  Furthermore, the city said that they would condemn any fully automatic safety gates that they found.  Of course, the Richmond Safety Gate product was fully automatic.  And, according to the company fully automatic safety gates were safer than semi-automatic gates.  Furthermore, they claimed that the defendants willfully conspired to injure or eliminate their business in Philadelphia. 

The lawsuit simply asked for two things.  They wanted  the defendants to be forbidden from favoring or requiring one type of safety gate over another.  And, they wanted the defendants to not be allowed to use their official positions in any way that denied the Richmond Safety Gate Company the ability to freely compete for business in the Philadelphia market.

The judge refused to issue an injunction so the the company could continue business while the case was heard by the court.  But, the court did agree to handle it in an expedited manner.  So, a year and a half later, the judge handed down his opinion in favor of the Richmond Safety Gate Company.

 

Ready To Move On

By 1908, George started exploring options for selling the business.  He was ready to get out of the manufacturing business.  He was nearing retirement and he still had significant other business interests.  There was talk of selling the business to C.L. Colby, who previously patented an idea with Charles Peelle.  In 1909, it appeared the company ($50,000 capital) would be moving to Marshalltown, Iowa with some of the staff also moving.  The deal seemed so close that the company closed down in anticipation of the sale and move.  However, the sale fell through at the last minute.

So, George, who had opened his first business in 1866, did what came natural.  He opened the factory back up and went back into business.  By 1913, the company had expanded to include fire retardant doors and freight elevator enclosures.  They now had between 30 and 35 employees on the payroll. 

 

The Union

With World War I, came a demand for workers, which translated into higher wages.  At the end of July 1918, the employees of the Richmond Safety Gate Company demanded a wage of 40¢ per hour for all workers, skilled and unskilled, effective immediately.  The company had already instituted a bonus system and a 2 1/2¢ per hour pay raise.  The company stated that they could not pay all employees 40¢ per hour or they would lose money on their current contract with the U.S. government for tin-clad fire-doors.

Thus, around 50 men went on strike the following Monday.  Within a few days, they met with the Sheet-Metal Worker’s Union about joining the union.  After the decision to join was made, the union convinced the workers to go back to work and provide the company their grievances in a businesslike manner.  Then, the union could fight for them.

The issues stated by employees were wages, the current bonus system, and a disagreement over the actual profits of the company.  The current wage for employees of the company depended on who you asked.  Clearly, management did not want to pay unskilled workers the same as what they paid skilled workers.

The bonus system, which the company offered was believed by the employees (or the union) to be unfair.  They offered a 10 percent bonus if an employee was on time and worked 55 hours in a week without any absences.  The employees did not feel it was fair as one minute late or one missed hour could cost you your entire bonus.  They much preferred an increased wage.

The union took up their cause and there were many union-company clashes that fall.  However, the exact agreement reached is undetermined.

 

The Buyout

Near the end of December, George died.  The following May, his widow sold the company to the Peelle Company that was located in New York.  That company was owned by Charles F. Peelle’s brother Caleb M. Peelle.  Caleb had been working in New York for Richmond Safety Gate Company at the time of his brother Charles’ death.

By 1905, Caleb decided to form his own elevator company, which he simply name Peelle Company.  His company, one might say, was a spin-off of the Richmond Safety Gate Company.  And, now the child was purchasing the parent!

The decision was to have the Richmond Safety Gate Company as a wholly owned subsidiary and to have it remain in Richmond, Indiana.  The only difference would be that one of the Peelle brothers, who had joined Caleb in his business in New York, would relocate to Richmond and run the company.

 

Doors, Doors, Doors

With new ownership came a push to expand and grow.  In 1921, the Richmond Safety Gate Company moved to a new location.  A name change followed the next year when they petitioned to change it from Richmond Safety Gate Company to the Richmond Fireproof Door Company.

Over the coming years, the company continued to focus on various types of doors and related fixtures.  In 1924, they stated that they were the makers of  the “Richmond Standard Automatic Tin Clad Fire Doors and Fixtures.”   It was Underwriter Laboratories approved and the company was recognized for their quality and workmanship.  They were seen as setting the standard for fireproof doors.

The company came under the leadership of James F. Peelle in 1926 when he was named president and general manager.  The following year, the company reported that  they were able to manufacture approximately 100 doors per day.  The company made various types and styles of doors, including: swinging, sliding, folding, telescoping, and more.  They advertised that they had a single order for 242 doors.

$50,000 in improvements were made to the factory.  They employed approximately 125 people and planned to further expand the staffing. 

It was at this time that the company held their first company picnic with an estimated crowd of 200 to 300.  Each person got coupons good for hot dogs, ice cream, and other goodies.  The day was filled with races, other competitions, and general enjoyment.

Expansion

Then it was back to work as 1928 brought a major expansion.  The floor space was expanded by a third by adding a new 140 ft.by 40 ft. addition to their current 260 ft. by 120 ft. building.  The new addition was to house the manufacturing of steel door trim for doors in industry called “Roll Steel Combination Buck and Trim Frames.”  To go along with their product and image, the new addition was brick with steel window frames. 

At the same time, an additional story was added to the office building.

 

Custom Doors

The company became known through out the country for problem solving and unique solutions to customer problems.  They made custom doors for a local company when the elevator shaft only had 4 feet of clearance below the first floor and the customer required a 10 ft. high door to accommodate automobiles and trucks on the elevator.  Typical construction would require at least 5 feet of clearance underneath the elevator.  The company’s solution was to create special doors where the bottom section of the door was two parts with one “telescoping” behind the other.

A challenging problem arose when the U.S. government asked for them to create doors for a military installation where the doors had to continue to operate smoothly at -100 degrees.  They were created on a tight timeline with complications even in the shipping.  However, creative solutions prevailed and the doors arrived at their destination on schedule.

Challenges also came in the way of size.  The Power Authority of New York, for example, required two doors for their power plant on the Niagara River that measured 76 ft. by 80 ft.  Each door weighed 54 tons.  I have no idea how they transported them from Richmond, Indiana to upstate New York.

 

Motorstairs

Meanwhile, in Coffeyville, Kansas, a small company named Multiscope was born.  Incorporated in 1941, Multiscope focused on military projects during World War II.

They had secret gun directors for Navy ships.  It was a highly secretive project with 20 to 30 sub-contractors making components, which were assembled at Multiscope.  Even the head of the companies didn’t see the finished product.  In the third year of production, some of the employees were allowed to see the final product minus several secret components that were removed for the showing.

After the war, the factory was converted for civilian product development.  Their first post-war product was moving stairs.  Now, I have no idea how or why they chose this for their product.  I would assume that somehow escalators were a good match for the type of equipment that they had.

 

Purchase By the Peelle Company

The Peelle Company became an Eastern sales representative for Multiscope.  Then, in 1949, the Peelle Company bought Multiscope, naming the new subsidiary Peelle Motor Stairs, Inc.  Their plan from the onset was to move the company to their facility in Richmond, Indiana.

To facilitate the move, they built a new 30,000 sq. ft. building and a new office building on the same site as the Richmond Fireproof Door Company.  Co-location was critical as the president of Richmond Fireproof Door Company was also the executive vice-president of Peelle Motor Stairs, Inc.  Likewise, others held positions in both companies or moved from one to the other.

 

 

Big Contracts

Almost immediately, after the purchase, the company landed a contract for $650,000 to build escalators for the new Union Bus Terminal in New York City.  It required a significant increase in staff over the number that had been working in Coffeyville.  To ensure a good transition, they moved about 25 previous Multiscope employees and their families from to Richmond while also hiring additional staff.

Although I referred to the product as an escalator, it is said that the term “escalator” was never used at the company.  The term had been trademarked by Peelle’s competitor Otis Elevator Company.  And, although they had dropped the trademark and it was in the public domain, the Peelle companies did not see fit to use the term.

In 1960, the company got another contract for the Union Bus Terminal, when it expanded.  Eighteen of the original thirty one escalators were removed and twenty-eight new escalators were installed.  The longest of the escalators was 79 ft. and had 150 steps.  They estimated that in the 10 years that the escalators had been in place that they had carried the equivalent of two times the entire population of the United States.  So, it is no wonder that some of them needed to be updated.

They installed motorstairs with heated handrails to warm hands in the winter.  Oddly that wasn’t in Alaska, where they installed what they believed to be the first ever escalators in Alaska.  They carried shoppers at the Northern Lights Shopping Mall in Anchorage.

In 1965, Peelle, exited the escalator business when they sold their escalator company to Haughton.

 

The Closure

The Richmond Fireproof Door Company manufacturing offices closed in October 1983.  They along with their predecessor company, Richmond Safety Gate Company, had been in business there for nearly 100 years.  At the time, they were down to 25 manufacturing employees at the Richmond location. The remainder of the manufacturing for the Peelle Company taking place at their plant in Ontario, Canada.

The employees were given 30-day notice that the plant was closing.  The following August, they auctioned off all of the remaining equipment.

 

Spanning Parts of 3 Centuries

The family’s venture into elevators and manufacturing, however, continues.  The Peelle Company, which is now 120 years old, has offices in New York and Ontario, Canada with installations worldwide.  The company is still owned and operated by the family.  JT Peelle, is the current president and CEO of the company and a member of the 5th generation of Peelle family members to serve in the company.

According to the Peelle Company website, “Peelle [is] known for premium quality design and manufacturing of specialist lift and elevator entrance doors.  Not only are we known for build quality, more importantly, we are known by all of our customers for product longevity.  This results in Peelle being the industry leader in the markets we serve, and the biggest provider of Horizontal and Vertical Sliding Doors for demanding commercial / industrial applications world wide.”

The Peelle Company believes their advantage comes from “continuing to install freight elevator doors on a worldwide basis.  This gives Peelle an in-depth and first-hand understanding of what the building owner/manager values in freight elevator door equipment and what is important from an elevator contractor’s perspective.”

They go on to say, “Being family-owned and operated since 1905 has allowed Peelle’s founding traditions and core values to continue on today.” 

 

Genealogical Connection

Company material says that the company is a 5-generation company.  My assumption is that it has been led by men in five generations.

Based on this assumption and the fact that Caleb and Charles were my great-grandfather’s 4th cousins.  That would make JT my 7th cousin once removed.  I am still researching to verify this relationship.

We are much closer connections on LinkedIn as he is a 3rd level connection to me.  And, in an interesting coincidence, both JT Peelle and my sons studied at the University of Denver (DU).  Both JT Peelle and my oldest son got their MBA at DU.

 

Mystery Girl

The photograph shown was taken in New York. The photo was among photos that we inherited and which appear to be tied to the Peelle family.  Who is she?  Is she a descendant of one of the brothers in this Peelle family?  If so, why did my family have the photo?

 

Related Links and Publications

The Richmond Fireproof Door Company

Richmond by The Richmond Fireproof Door Co., 1960.

Richmond Pass Windows by The Richmond Fireproof Door Co., 1960

Richmond Fyrgard Products by Richmond Fireproof Door Co., 1940.

Richmond Fireproof Door Company by The Richmond Fireproof Door Co, 1939.

Richmond doors, frames, hardware, operators by Richmond Fireproof Door Co., 1938

 

The Peelle Company

The Peelle Company website

Interview With JT Peelle, Current President and CEO of the Peelle Company

Supplier Spotlight: Peelle Turns 100 by Elevator World

Peelle Hanger Doors by The Peelle Company, 1960.

Peelle Doors: freight elevator, dumbwaiter, industrial entrance doors by The Peelle Company, 1936

Peelle freight elevator, dumbwaiter, industrial entrance doors by The Peelle Co, 1932.

 

 

Prompt: Wheels

@52ancestors52weeks

The Children’s Librarian

Posted on by FHadmin

Being a Children’s Librarian was a second career, but one that Aunt Inez loved.  It ended far too soon.

 

Becoming A Librarian

Background

Inez Linda Pellett, my namesake, was the oldest daughter of Clifford Claney and Dessie May (Thomas) Pellett.  She was born near Moundville, Missouri on April 8, 1928.  A couple of years later, the family moved to Redfield, Kansas before settling down near Garland, Kansas.

While she was still going to grammar school, her father ended up in a veteran’s hospital hundreds of miles away.  Still, her mother managed to send all the kids to high school.

 

First Career

Inez’s first job after completing high school a semester early was at the business that became the Western Casualty and Surety Company & The Western Fire Insurance Company (The Western Insurance Companies).  The company was known locally simply as “The Western.”  She started working in February 1946 while also taking a full course load at Fort Scott Junior College (FSJC, now Fort Scott Community College [FSCC]).  She was only 17 at the time.

She completed her course work at FSJC, taking a mix of general classes and business office classes.  She had eight credit hours of shorthand and she was really good at it.  When she was working at the library, she still wrote notes in shorthand.  I wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep up her skill level, if it was just natural after 25 years in a office, or if it was her way of keeping her notes private as most people didn’t know shorthand.

When Inez completed 25 years with The Western, she retired.  She was only 42.  Inez took a year off work.  When she was ready to go back to work, she chose a field which was a bit less stressful than supervising the issuance of payroll checks for a large company.  The company had approximately $226,000,000 in premiums per year, which with inflation would be nearly a billion dollars  today.  She traded that for being the “assistant librarian” at Fort Scott Public Library.

 

Inez with me on my first Christmas Day

Love of Children

Although Inez’s official title was Assistant Librarian, her primary role was working in the children’s library.  I couldn’t think of anyone better for this role.  She loved children and children loved her.  They could sense her true intent to connect with them.  However, she had never married and had no children of her own.

So, she enjoyed other people’s children.  She loved Halloween as she loved interacting with each and every Trick or Treater.  It wasn’t simply a “Trick or Treat,” get candy, and be on your way.  Instead, each child that came to her home could expect to be invited in for a conversation about their costume.

The closest she had of children of her own were my sister and me.  We spent many Saturday nights at her house.  When I was five, she took me with her on a trip to California to see her brother and other relatives.  Both of us later went with her and Mom on another trip to California. Later, I went with her to Savannah, Georgia when the Greyhounds played in the Shrine Bowl for the National Championship. 

However, how close she was to me can be summed up with one story.  When I was a toddler, Mom and I (and possibly others) met up with her and had lunch downtown.  When she walked away to go back to the office, I started fussing and making a ruckus.  Mom figured that everyone on the street thought that my mom leaving to go back to work.  But, it was my mom holding me.  It was my buddy that was going back to work.

 

Library Work

Coming from a demanding, high stress job, Inez found the responsibilities of a small-town librarian to be easy.  Her day consisted of reviewing books, ordering books, prepping books for checkout, checking them out/in, taking in occasional fines, and other library tasks.

She enjoyed the work and did it with the utmost professionalism.  She kept the library well organized even with little hands pulling books out to see if they wanted to check them out. That said, she had an incredible talent of getting children to behave while they enjoyed the visit.  And, needless to say, she enjoyed each and every visit from a child.

 

The Lunch Break

Inez was quick with her work.  She was a fast typist and fast at taking shorthand.  Additionally, she was very fast on her feet.  I don’t know if that came from her childhood or if it was something that she became accustomed to in her previous job.  However, I know that as a child I had to run to keep up with her.  Inez had an hour lunch break and she would make the most of it.  Occasionally, she would walk from the library to Pizza Hut, eat their buffet lunch, and walk back to the library all within the hour.  It was 1.5 miles each way and Google estimates it will take a little over an hour for a person to walk there and back.  However, Inez made the walk AND ate lunch.  And, she walked it in heels!

 

Story Hour

One of the events of the week that Inez looked forward to was Story Hour.  When she started working at the library, Inez held one Story Hour a week for half a dozen preschool children.  Within a year, Story Hour had grown to three sessions per week with approximately 60 children attending each week.

Story Hour was held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m.  It started with the children playing an age-appropriate game.  Once they settled down, Inez read them a book, making sure to show them the pictures and answer any questions.  She read many different books to them, but like all kids, they had their favorites.  Curious George and Dr. Seuss were among those most often requested.

Afterward, they checked in the books they had taken home the week before and checked out books for the coming week.  Afterward, they could talk quietly with their friends or sit and look at their books.

Inez went all out for her little readers (or maybe I should say listeners).  She would have treats for holidays including Valentine’s Day, Easter, and Christmas.  At Christmas, she made little gifts for each child.  One year she made toy soldiers out of clothes pins for all the children.  Another year, I remember helping her make little bear ornaments that the kids could put on their Christmas tree.  It also seems like she might have made some ghosts for Halloween and/or some angels for the kids.

She was amazing with the kids and did so much for them.  The kids adored her, and she was pretty popular with the older crowd, too.

 

 

 

 

 

Summer Reading

Each year there was a theme for the Summer Reading Program.  This is where I got into the act.  I am not sure what the exact theme was one year, but it must have been related to the Old West as I made a fort, steamboat, and stagecoach.  Each one was made out of cardboard and other household supplies.  They were large enough to be a significant display, but small enough that they could sit on top of the bookcases.

 

Filling In

When I was in college, I worked in the library on Saturdays and if I was available when either librarian was on vacation.  It was a great opportunity for me as I worked in both the Children’s Library and the adult library.  I learned a lot about research, which was useful in school and, of course, in genealogy.  On cold, snowy days, I had the opportunity to read local books that did not circulate.  The patrons were few and far between on those days and I didn’t usually have enough work to keep me busy all day.

 

The Side Job

As a side job Inez did work for the lawyers in town.  She typed up materials for them and did other tasks. She liked typing on the old manual typewriters and was quite fast on the keys.  Those “a’s” that were so hard for most people were a breeze for her

Although called to serve on a jury, Inez never had to serve.  She not only knew all the lawyers in town, but she worked for them.  So, you could say that she was denied her civic duty or you could look at it as a benefit of the job.

 

A portion of a letter from the secretary at the church.

Her Illness

Inez had already started having health issues before she went to work at the library.  It was probably the reason behind her leaving the Western.  I vaguely remember her telling me that she had some issue, but she believed she wasn’t going to die from it.

She had always had cold feet.  When she put them against you, it was like you were touching an iceberg.  She also had a lot of pain in her feet and legs.  At the time, I assumed that it might have been from walking all those miles in high heels.  However, it seems that both the cold and pain came from her medical issues.

After Inez went to work at the library, she lost a lot of weight.  She craved ice and would request soda or orange juice be served poured over a glass full of ice.  She got a few calories from that.  However, she didn’t seem to be able to eat much food.  By May 1983, Inez became so weak that she was hospitalized at Mercy Hospital in Ft. Scott.  They transferred her to St. Luke’s in Kansas City, where she remained for some time. 

While at St. Luke’s, Inez got cards from people young and old.  Some cards came from a group of people and others were hand drawn or had extra art from a youngster.  Everyone was missing her presence in their life.

 

A letter from one of the older children.

A drawing one of the kids sent Inez while she was in the hospital.

From one of her young library patrons

Tribute to Inez by Dick Hedges, Fort Scott Tribune, 1983

It Ends Too Soon

Eventually, the doctors sent Inez back to the hospital in Ft. Scott.  I think it had become clear that they didn’t have a cure for her.  When she was released from the hospital, she went to stay with Mom and Dad.  She died September 24, 1983.  She was only 55.

Photos from the Library are from Inez Pellett’s personal collection.

Prompt: Library

#52ancestors52 weeks

Life at the Home for Aged Protestant Women

Posted on by FHadmin

by L. L. Thomson

 

Many people over the years have spent their later days in a retirement home.  However, few have lived in a retirement home as many years as Elizabeth Mason (Stackhouse) Brooks lived at the Home for Aged Protestant Women.

Elizabeth’s History

Elizabeth Mason Stackhouse, Rod’s 5th great-grandmother, was born March 19, 1802 to Stephen and Amy (Vandyke) Stackhouse. Note: Vandyke has many different spellings in records with Van Dyke and Vandike being common.  Her birth likely took place in Falls Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania where the Stackhouse family had lived since they arrived in America in 1682.

In February 1822, Elizabeth married Joshua Brooks in Tulleytown, Bucks, Pennsylvania.  In that year, he is listed in Falls Township.  However, previously, he was listed in Newtown, Bucks, Pennsylvania.  He is listed in tax records with William Brooks and John Brooks.  William is believed to have been his father and the likely owner of the Brooks House in Newtown, which we visited. 

Elizabeth and Joshua became the parents of Ann Rue, Emma Vandyke, Stephen S., Henry G., Sarah C. and Samuel S.  Ann Rue married Jesse Klinefelter.  They are Rod’s 4th great-grandparents.  Ann married James Hendrickson after Jesse died.

In 1828, Joshua, Elizabeth, and their oldest four children moved west to the bustling city of Pittsburgh, where Joshua was in business with a member of Elizabeth’s family.  They built stationary engines.  Joshua was a skilled blacksmith.

Joshua died unexpectedly in 1869 while visiting his daughter Ann R. (Brooks) Klinefelter Hendrickson.

 

Home for Aged Protestant Women

In 1870, Elizabeth can be found in her daughter Sarah’s household.  It is unclear if Elizabeth lived there the entire time between when Joshua died in July 1869 and March 3, 1874 when she moved to the Home for Aged Protestant Women (HAPW). 

 

Why?

The obvious question is why did Elizabeth go to live at the facility?  Even if she didn’t want to remarry or had no prospects for marriage, why didn’t she continue to live with Sarah or go live with one of her other children? 

Sarah had a husband and two growing children at the time Elizabeth moved into the HAPW.  Perhaps, the family needed the space Elizabeth had been occupying.  There also could have been conflicts with three generations in the same space.  It wouldn’t be the first time a family found multiple generations to be a challenge.  So, for whatever reason, Elizabeth did not stay in Sarah’s home.

When considering Elizabeth’s other children, her oldest daughter, Rod’s 4th great grandmother, Ann Rue (Brooks) Klinefelter Hendricks, was a two-time widow.  She had lost her second husband only a couple of months before her father died.  By the time her mother entered the Home for Aged Protestant Woman, Ann was working as the Matron of the Poor House.  So, she wouldn’t have had a place to house her mother.

Elizabeth and Joshua’s second daughter Emma Vandyke Brooks has been a bit difficult to trace.  She was in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Muscogee County, Georgia with her brother Stephen; and later is in Missouri.  Stephen, as mentioned, was in Georgia.  Moving in with his family would have required traveling south, but it was post-Civil War so it was definitely doable.  Yet, Elizabeth stayed in Pittsburgh.

Her son Samuel had drown while he was working as an steamboat engineer when he fell overboard on a run between Louisville, Kentucky and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  And, Elizabeth’s son Henry was also said to have died before 1870.  The circumstances and exact date are unknown.

So, Elizabeth moved to the Home for Aged Protestant Women.

 

The Home

The Home for Aged Protestant Women, situated on five well-groomed acres near the Pennsylvania Line on Rebecca Avenue, had opened its doors only two and a half years before Elizabeth moved in.  It had been founded by Jane Holmes on land donated by James Kelly.  Oversight was performed by the Board of Managers and was an auxiliary of the Women’s Christian Organization.

The Application

Entry to the home required that the applicants lived in Pittsburgh/Allegheny for ten years, be over sixty years of age, and an application/acceptance fee. The women paid the $200 fee when they moved into the facility unless it was not practical or feasible for them to make the payment.  Then an exception or alternative was arranged.

The payment wasn’t really for care as the cost over their stay far exceeded this amount.  Instead, it was to “guarantee the respectability and good behavior of the inmates.”  Additionally, they wanted the women to consider themselves paupers.  Note: In this era, the word inmate simply referred to anyone in an institution of any type.

 

The Rules

In addition to being required to be respectable and have good behavior, the women were also prohibited from using tobacco or any stimulants.  The facility was  very strict about behavioral rules.  The year after Elizabeth moved in, the managers evicted a woman for repeated violations.

 

 

To move in applicants had to sign the following:

 

In consideration of my admission into the Home for Aged Protestant Women, Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, as an inmate, subject to its rules and regulations. I, the undersigned, do hereby assign and transfer to the said Home for Aged Protestant Women, Wilkinsburg, Allegheny County, Pa., to and for its absolute use, all my property and effects, and with the same legal effect as if delivered into its actual possession; and I do further agree to and with the said corporation that if I shall hereafter receive or become entitled to any money or property of any kind, real or personal, I will at once give information thereof to the managers of said corporation, and will assign and transfer the same to the said corporation if I remain at the home. And I do also hereby engage and promise that I will comply with all the rules of the institution.

Witness my hand and seal this  . . . day of  . . . .  A. D. 19…

(Seal)

Witness present.

Pledge from early 1900s

Source: Pittsburgh Press, August 11, 1901

 

After the women entered the HAPW, their room, board, care, and funerals were all free of charge.  Funding was provided by charity subscriptions, donations, and interest on the endowment fund.

The part that is unclear is how the “property and effects” portion was carried out or exactly what it covered.  Clearly, if a woman inherited land, the implication would be that the Home for Aged Protestant Women would be entitled to it.  However, Elizabeth did have spending money.  So, they didn’t seem to take that from the women.  It is also unclear what happened to their personal effects upon their death.

 

Source: Pittsburgh Press, August 11, 1901

Living At The Home For Aged Protestant Women

 

The Home Itself

On March 3, 1874, Elizabeth moved into the HAPW.  It was a one hundred feet by forty feet brick building, which contained three floors and a basement.  Elizabeth could enjoy the common spaces that included the parlor, chapel, sitting room, and dining room.  Her bedroom was one of thirty-seven bedrooms in the facility, although when she moved in under twenty were in use.  Additional rooms included the kitchen, a room for baking, two pantries, four rooms for provisions, a laundry, a drying-ironing room, two rooms for clothes, and two bathrooms. 

The home even had an elevator and fire escapes.  The large solid fire escapes  were designed to make exiting in as emergency as easy as using a regular staircase.  This was critical given many of the residents’ step wasn’t what it had once been. 

The rooms in the home were large and spacious.  The thick carpets, paintings on the wall, furniture, and knickknacks would still be in use years later.  The bedrooms were beautifully furnished with churches in the area donating money for many of the furnishings.  By the 1900s, the rooms in the house were described as “old-fashioned comfort.”

 

Daily Routine

The women spent their days entertaining each other, napping, or pursuing personal interests.  Elizabeth definitely kept busy.  She went out a lot, but also spent a good deal of time in her room.  She wrote letters daily and spent a good amount of time reading.

However, she was often found in her rocking chair making various items including: pin cushion covers, silk stockings which she knitted, lace ties, and wash cloths.  Some she used, such as, the silk purse that she carried.  Some gifted to friends and family.  Others she sold.  In her later years, she shared that “she never has been able to get along without plenty of spending money and never will.”

If bored of other activities, the women could just take in the sights of the property: the huge shade trees, manicured lawns, and gardens.  The live-in gardener and his crew could be seen tending to the property to keep it looking proper.  Other times they could watch workmen on the property, such as, in 1882 when a significant expansion was undertaken.

When it was mealtime, she joined the other ladies of the house in the dining room.  It was an elegant affair.  Tables were adorned with perfectly white cloths, china, silver, and flowers.  Sparkling water was provided from the facility’s private spring.

A Christian facility would be amiss if it did not provide Sunday services in the Chapel.  Thus,  ministers in the area took turns bringing the word to the women of the HAPW.  Occasionally, the women were graced by entertainment.  And, of course, there were visitors to the facility. 

 

Kept on Going!

On Elizabeth’s 98th birthday, family and friends called upon her with the youngest two visitors being Carolyn and Hortense Klinefelter, her great-grandson Judge Klinefelter’s (Rod’s great-great grandfather) youngest children.  Family, friends, and observers thought she just might make one hundred since she seemed as strong as ever and didn’t seem to slow down. Read more about Judge Klinefelter.

In the fall of 1900, Elizabeth was described as looking like a well-kept seventy-year-old.  According to a reporter, she had “bright eyes and rosy cheeks and nimble fingers.”  He went on to say, “She has a face so serene and a heart so contented that they are sort of magnets to attract all bright things her way.”

Elizabeth still took care of herself.  And, although she wore glasses, she was known for always looking over the top of them.  She said that he needed glasses no more now than when she was young.  And, the article said that she still had her second sight.  I am suspecting that  they meant that she still had her women’s intuition.

Her door was almost always open during the day.  Inside the sunny room, Elizabeth could be seen busy knitting, reading, or writing.  On the wall, was a 5-generation photograph.  It seems very possible that it was of Elizabeth, her daughter Ann Rue (Brooks) Klinefelter Hendrickson, her grandson Joseph Gazzan Klinefelter, great-grandson Judge Sharpless Klinefelter, and one or more of Judge’s daughters. There are other possibilities, but for various reasons this option seems to rise above some of the others.

 

Change In Routine

Still, Elizabeth’s routine had changed a little over the years.  She didn’t get around as easily as in the past as one of her knees gave her trouble.  Thus, going out was no longer part of her regular routine.  Elizabeth’s visiting was mostly limited to the ladies near her room on the first floor.

The facility had also changed over the years.  For instance, it now had electric lights.  Additionally, a large addition of bedrooms was added in the 1880s and the addition of a second dining room.  It now was home to over fifty women.  Likely other rooms had also been added in the addition to support the daily routine and care of the inmates at the HAPW.

In the summer of 1901, Elizabeth was unwell to the point that she took to her bed.  It was the first time she had done so in the many years that she had lived at the home.  They thought for a moment that this might be the end, but she rallied and became her bright, cheerful, industrious self, once again. 

 

Keys to A Long Life

Elizabeth’s keys to a long life seem to be not working too hard, having a strong constitution, and avoiding too much worry.  She said that she never had to watch what she ate or drank. And, she always stopped working when she was tired.  Read about it in her own words in the adjacent newspaper image.  This was printed August 11, 1901, less than a month before she died.  Notice:  At 99 she got her own byline.

The only odd thing in the article is that it says she raised a family of nine children.  Records have only been found for six children and I suspect this is a typo or misunderstanding of what Elizabeth said.  She was raised in a family of nine children, but appears to have had raised six children.  Being the youngest of her siblings and marrying at age 20, it seems that she wouldn’t likely have been the cook in the family, but you never know.

 

Through it All

Born shortly after Washington D.C. became the Nation’s capital, Elizabeth lived through the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, James Polk, Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abe Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ullysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland (twice), Benjamin Harrison, and William McKinley.

Those years were a time of great invention.  During Elizabeth’s life, some of the major inventions include: gas and electric lighting, tin cans, the steam locomotive, photographs, the typewriter, stethoscopes, the sewing machine, the revolver, the telegraph, Morse Code, the internal combustion engine, dynamite, traffic lights, barbed wire, the telephone, the vacuum, motor vehicles.  All of these are important to our lives today.   

At the time that Elizabeth died, she was only six months shy of her hundredth birthday!  Quite a feat in days when so many did not survive childhood.  She had lived through the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the Civil War.  See had also experienced people heading west during the Gold Rush.  Additionally, she had lived through the loss of her parents, all her siblings, her husband, and at least two children.

 

Afterward

The name of the facility was later changed to Rebecca Residence.  However, it appears to have continued the same vision.  While doing the research for this story, I discovered a Finding Aid for the records for Rebecca Residence.  The records are housed at the Senator John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  Interestingly, the records go back to the founding of the facility and even include applications for admission and visitor logs.  This is another of many reasons to make a trip to the Pittsburgh area.

The Rebecca Residence moved to a new facility in 1999. According to the History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the original building  became 3 Rivers Center for Independent Living.  Today, Google Maps shows a sign in front of the building at 900 Rebecca Avenue that says, “Community Psychiatric Centers.”

I think Jane Holmes would be impressed that her vision was realized and that although in use in different ways, the facility she helped open is still in use after 150 years.

 

Featured Image: Pittsburgh Post, October 21, 1900

Prompt: Institution

#52ancestors52weeks

 

 

DNA Ethnicity Meets Traditional Genealogy

Posted on by FHadmin

DNA and associated analysis tells us a lot about our ancestry.  It is a relatively new field, but I can no longer imagine doing genealogy without it.  Much of my work with DNA has focused on finding matches to breakdown brick walls.  This article touches on information DNA provides about our ethnicity.  I compare results from 3 different companies using my dad’s DNA.

Ethnicity Estimates

Ethnicity estimates is an area of DNA analysis that is an evolving science.  Each company has slightly different regions.  In addition, each company has a growing and changing base of data that is used to determine a person’s ethnicity.  Thus, the estimates and even regions that apply to a person continue to be in flux. 

Ethnicity estimates are based on unique elements of DNA that evolved over time.  Thus, they don’t necessarily align with where a person lives or where their ancestors most recently lived.  Ethnicity provides clues to where a family lived 1,000 or more years ago.  For example, someone might have family that immigrated from Germany.  However, their ethnicity from a DNA company might indicate some percentage Russian.  That simply means that one or more of their ancestors was originally from Russia.

 

Expectations From Traditional Genealogy

 

For people like Rod’s mom, her expected ethnicity makeup is quite clear as her grandparents all immigrated to the United States from Germany.  However, when your ancestors have been in the United States a long time, your expected ethnicity makeup is a bit more complicated.

In Dad’s case, it is very complicated as his earliest known ancestor in America arrived in 1621.  Most of his family lines arrived in America by 1800. The last branch of his family to arrive in the United States left Europe 200 years ago, but took a bit of a detour through Canada before making their way southward.

Thus, a lot of generations and a lot of different families join together to form Dad’s family tree.  It isn’t feasible to discuss all of them with regards to expected ethnicity.  Therefore, this article focuses on what traditional genealogy says about where his great-grandparents’ direct paternal family line’s may have lived before coming to the United States.

The 8 Key Family Lines

McCracken

Genealogy research indicates that our McCracken ancestors most likely moved to the United States from Ireland.  However, the name McCracken is derived from the Clan McNaughton in Scotland.  Thus, it seems we may have ancestors in both Scotland and Ireland.

Matteer

According to census records, Mathias Matteer, our earliest confirmed Matteer ancestor, was the son of immigrants. His father was born in France and his mother in Canada.  Although not proven, it appears that it may have been his grandfather, rather than his father, who was born in Alsace, France.  In either case, genealogy would indicate that he had ancestry in the region along the French-German border. 

Ellis

Our Ellis relatives in Europe are unknown.  People with the name Ellis or other forms of it lived in many different places.  However, the name seems to have originated in England.

nicholson

Our Nicholson family also dead ends in the United States.  It was very common in the British Isles.

Peelle

Lawrence Peelle sailed to America from England.  He appears to have sailed on the Margaret and John over the winter of 1620-1621.  The belief is that he was born in England.

Peel Castle is on St. Patrick’s Isle which is connected to Isle of Mann, which has a town named Peel.  Additionally, Piel Castle is on Piel Island off the cost of northwest England.  Whether Lawrence had a connection to either of these places is unknown.

Johnson

According to House of Names, Johnson is the second most common surname in the United States. The name was common in England, but our knowledge of the family ends in North Carolina.

Jury

The Jury family immigrated first to Canada and then to the United States.  They were from Sussex, England.

Willett

The Willett family immigrated to Canada.  Then, Ellenor (Ellen) (Willett) Jury immigrated with some of her children to the United States.

1 Person – 3 Different Views

This section takes a look at Dad’s ethnicity as provided by 23andMe, MyHeritage, and Ancestry.  As you look at them, you will note significant differences in both the ethnicity and the detail provided.

 

23andMe

 

Regions

The areas highlighted in color indicate the regions 23andMe has identified as locations associated with unique attributes of Dad’s DNA. 

Source: 23andMe

 

The graph shows that they have identified Dad as basically being a Northwestern European. They further break down the categories to show more specific (sub)regions.

 

 

 

The (sub)regions focus his ancestral roots in on being British and Irish with small amounts of the other areas.

 

 

 

This chart is something I could have guessed from traditional genealogy given most of his 8 key family lines have likely ties to the UK.

MyHeritage

 

Regions

The regions on the MyHeritage map are shown in various colors.  The areas that are grayish and outlined are genetic groups.  Those will be discussed in the following section.

Source: MyHeritage

The regions highlighted are those that MyHeritage has determined for Dad.  The chart shows the percentages for each region. 

If we look at Dad’s key families, we would expect French, Irish, Scottish, and English. In addition to these families, I know of connections to Germany.  Thus, I was not surprised by Germanic and related regions.

This leaves us with the surprise regions of Norwegian and Breton.  Dad has no known connection to Norway.  However, the distance between Norway and several of the other regions is not large.  Thus, one or more ancestors could have easily migrated to one of the other regions.

Brittany, France (Breton) is on the opposite side of France from where Dad’s Matteer ancestors are believed to have lived.  It seems most likely that they migrated to England.

The other surprise is the small percentage Irish.  With the name McCracken, even knowing it had roots in a Scottish Clan, we always thought of ourselves as being a good percentage Irish.

 

Source: MyHeritage

 

Location of DNA matches

MyHeritage also provides the number of DNA matches a person has in each country. This provides an interesting view when you consider it along with the regions.

The chart shows a list of countries and number of matches in each to Dad.  Only countries with 10 or more matches are included in the chart.  Countries with a green bar are in countries represented by the regions MyHeritage identified.

 

 

Genetic Groups

MyHeritage also provides what they call genetic groups.  These are areas where a person shows strong genetic associations to other people that live or lived in the area.  My Heritage identified five genetic groups.

  • UK and Ireland
  • Northeastern and Midwestern USA
  • Midwestern USA #9
  • Northeastern and Midwestern USA and Canada (Ontario) #2
  • Southern USA

For each genetic group, MyHeritage used thousands of DNA kits and they state that they have high confidence in each group. 

All of these groups has its specific makeup of settlers.  However, all of them include settlers from the UK. All these genetic groups  except the “UK and Ireland” group include German backgrounds.  Each of the genetic groups include places that Dad’s ancestors lived.

Ancestry

Regions

Source: Ancestry.com

 

The regions highlighted are those that Ancestry has determined for Dad.  You will note that the regions are somewhat similar to those of MyHeritage. Yet, there are also differences.

The chart shows the percentages for each region. Ancestry also provides a range.  For example, Scotland is 18%.  The range, however is 11% to 32%.  My understanding is that in comparisons to their data, 18% is the most likely scenario.  However, Ancestry found it possible, but less likely, in other parts of  the range.

If we look at Dad’s key families, traditional genealogy would lead us to  expect the regions of Ireland, Germanic Europe, Scotland, and England & Northwestern Europe.  Within the Scotland region, Ancestry ties Dad to the Scottish Highlands and Central Lowlands subregion.  The only other subregion Ancestry identifies for Dad is the French and German Switzerland subregion, which is likely attributed to the Matteer family.

Beyond these regions, Wales also seems likely since Peel Castle is in the vicinity of Wales.  You will later see how this reasonable assumption is debunked and why Wales must come into play another way.

 

Source: Ancestry.com

 

Ancestry associated Dad with the region of Sweden; whereas, MyHeritage associated him with Norway.  Although traditional genealogy has yet to uncover a connection to either place, it seems likely that each company is picking up on a DNA attribute, but associating it to different countries.

Denmark and Iceland are the additional surprise regions.  Denmark is close to both the German region and Sweden. Thus, the region of Denmark does not seem like a stretch.  MyHeritage also identified this area.

Iceland, however, is a huge surprise.  I am wondering if it is one of those regions that comes and then goes again as more is learned about the region.  Only time will tell.

 

Ethnicity – Split By Parent

Ancestry takes ethnicity a step further and splits it between ethnicity that can be attributed to a person’s mother and a person’s father.  The following chart shows Dad’s ethnicity makeup on the right.  On the left, it shows the split between his mother and his father.  From this we can check to see if he really inherited ethnicity from whom we think he did.

 

Source: Ancestry.com
Percentage of Ethnicity Received From Each Parent

Each of his parents provided approximately 50% of Dad’s DNA.  However, DNA inherits randomly.  Thus, from a given parent  you might not get any DNA that indicates one ethnicity, some of another, and all of another.

If we consider the key families, it is definitely no surprise that Dad’s mother, Nellie (Peelle) McCracken, provided a good amount of England & Northwestern Europe DNA as her mother’s ancestors all came from England and her father’s early ancestors also came from England.  Traditional genealogy for key families of Dad’s father, Joseph Andrew McCracken, haven’t uncovered the same strength of ties to England.  However, traditional genealogy has uncovered some more distant families with ties to England. 

Scotland is a bit opposite as I would expect more of Scottish DNA to come from Dad’s paternal side.  Matter of fact, I don’t know where that much Scottish DNA would have come from on his maternal side.

Germanic Europe is no surprise.  Dad’s Matteer family may fall into that category as they were from an area in France along the border with Germany. Additionally, the Storm(s)(es)/Sturm family that married into the Ellis line was from Germany and based on a huge number of matches to this family, I am sure they are contributors to the German percentage.

The two other regions of interest are Iceland and Wales.  From this data, we find that the tie to Iceland was on Dad’s mom’s side. Similarly, we learn that the tie to Wales is on his father’s side.  Thus, the assumption made earlier that Wales might be tied to the Peelle family is ruled out.

 

Ethnicity – Split By Chromosomes

Ancestry also provides a map of the ethnic regions to the chromosomes.  The following image shows the mapping of the regions to Dad’s DNA.  The top bar on each chromosome pair represents Dad’s father’s side and the bottom bar represents his mother’s side.  The dominance of England & Northwestern Europe is quite evident.  And, we can see that the Iceland region is associated with chromosome #15.

 

Ancestry also provided the ability to compare

 

Ethnicity Comparisons

Ancestry also provides the capability to compare your regions with those of your DNA matches.  The chart shows the DNA regions for Dad, my sister, and myself.

A couple new regions are added, which would have come from my mom’s side.  Additionally, several ethnic regions drop out in my sister and me.

Despite the fact that Mom never did a DNA test, several things can be learned about my mom’s ethnic regions.  First, we know that her ethnic regions must greatly overlap with dad’s regions.  We also know that at minimum Mom has 18% England & Northwestern Europe since my sister has 80% in this region.  However, it is likely that she has much more.  We also know she had ancestors from Scotland, Finland, and Norway.

Journeys

Ancestry’s “Journeys” are similar to MyHeritage’s “genetic groups.”  They are areas where a person matches or is expected to match a number of people because their ancestors and other relatives lived in the location.  Generally, journeys are more recent.

To date, Ancestry has identified three Journeys for Dad:

  • Eastern South East England, Delaware Valley
  • Chesapeake & Midwest Settlers
  • St. Louis, Missouri & Western U.S. Settlers.

 

Eastern South East England

Ancestry specifically ties Dad’s family to  two specific areas within this Journey.  The West Sussex, West Surrey & Eastern Surrey & Kent  area (darkest green) is definitely tied to the Jury and Willett families.  They moved from this area to Canada before coming to the United States.

The other specific place is Greater London to Brighton (medium green).  This is likely also tied to these families, possibly through people who married into the family.

 

 

Source: Ancestry.com

Delaware Valley, Chesapeake & Midwest Settlers

According to Ancestry.com, “The Chesapeake Bay and Delaware River valleys were popular destinations for colonial migrants from England, Scotland, and German-speaking territories.” The following of Dad’s 8 key families lived in the areas shown:  McCracken, Matteer, Ellis, Nicholson, Peelle, and Johnson.  Thus, Dad has a very strong connection to this Journey. 
Source: Ancestry.com

St. Louis, Missouri & Western U.S. Settlers

This area includes much of Kansas, Missouri, and Iowa.  At least one member of each of the key families lived within this journey.  Despite the fact that none of Dad’s direct ancestors lived in the northwest, this was a very common destination for people that passed through Kansas and Missouri. I have found people in many different families that had one or more family members that moved to the northwest.

So, what is missing in these journeys?  Probably the area that I would expect most is North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky.  Regions containing them might show up eventually.  However, it is possible that they don’t show up because much of our family left those areas 200 or more years ago. 

Ancestry provides more information about the regions, journeys, and examples of people that lived in each of the regions.  They also provide details about their processes and research.

 

The Old Sawmill

Posted on by FHadmin

When I thought about the oldest story, which was the prompt for this week, I thought of stories of long ago, stories we had known the longest, the oldest ancestor in a family, the person who lived to be the oldest, and more.  I finally settled on something much closer to home . . . the oldest man-made feature on the property where I grew up.

 

Growing Up

As kids, my sister, cousins, and friends explored the natural wonders of the property where I grew up.  The creek, big boulders along the bluff, and the cave provided endless entertainment.  It seems there were a lot less ticks, snakes, and other critters in that pasture back in those days. Yet, the little mom knew about our exploration still probably made my her nervous as a cat. 

 

This shows the detail of the wall. Most places it seems to be around two feet high. This point, however, is higher than the rest of the wall.

The Wall

One place that my sister and I never explored, most likely because we didn’t know that it existed until we were older, was an old rock wall.  It sits at the top of the bluff on the far side of the creek.  The wall is made of large flat stones piled on each other with apparently nothing, but gravity, holding them in place.  A majority of the wall appears to still be in place today.

Dad said that the wall was the location of an old sawmill.  It is unclear how the wall was used.  It might have been used to keep logs from rolling down the bluff into the creek.  Alternately, it might have been to keep humans from accidentally stepping off the edge of the bluff.

 

This shows the opening in the wall to the path to the creek. In the center are the rough steps.

The Path To the Creek

Toward the north end of the wall, a clearly intentional opening in the wall exists.  Through it is a path down toward the creek.  It is in an area where the creek is more accessible than many other spots.  It would have been good for accessing water. 

Along the path, there are a couple of places where it appears that rocks in the side of the bluff were chiseled or cut to make rudimentary steps.   This made walking up and down the path easier than climbing over big rocks.

 

Creek area near the path to the wall.

Location of the Mill

It is possible that the saw mill was down near the creek.  However, even on the highest spots down near the river, the sawmill would have been easily washed away in floods.  Additionally, it would not seem likely that they would have wanted to carry the lumber up the bluff.  And, if so, what would the purpose of the wall have been?

It seems more likely that the sawmill stood on the top of the bluff.  It might have stood just east of the wall.  Trees now cover that area.  However, it may have stood a bit further east in a larger, open area covered with flat-ish rocks.  Some of the rocks are a part of the rocky terrain.  However, others appear to be loose or placed on top of the ground.  The rocks don’t create a 100% solid surface, but are close enough together to have created a surface for wagons hauling lumber.

Rocks also appear to create a walking path to this area.  It is possible that the rocks are just a part of nature.  However, they don’t match rock patterns in other areas nearby.  And, again, they appear intentional.  Thus, we believe that rocks were added specifically to create the path and a work area.

 

What appears to be an old road near the sawmill site.

The Road

Coming from the rock open space is what appears to be a rock road heading east, although not completely straight.  The road is covered with rocks in a similar way with trees and brush along the sides of the road.  Again, it is possible that these rocks were somehow just randomly located in a way that appears to be a road.  However, the rocks on the road, open space, and walking path are completely different than the big boulders and other rocks that dominate the landscape.

 

So, how old is it?

I don’t know exactly when the sawmill was built.  It may likely have been built during the time the Missouri River, Fort Scott, and Gulf Railroad Company (later known as the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and  Gulf Railroad company) owned the property, which would be the 1870s.  And, it may have been built even earlier as investors led by James F. Joy of Michigan had obtained the property a few years earlier with the idea that it would be granted to the railroad.

In 1869, the railroad company hired almost all of the sawmills in the county, leaving the area with a shortage of lumber for building homes.  Thus, it is likely the sawmill  was used by the railroad.  This is especially true since it was on property that the railroad was in the process of acquiring.

Next Oldest

The only other man-made structure on the property that rivals the wall in age, is the kitchen in the existing house.  It once was a one-room house.  It sat on a slightly raised area in the bottom below the bluff on the west side of the creek some distance from the sawmill.  I believe that house was built in the late 1870s, which was while the land belonged to the railroad.  It wasn’t until 1880 that it was officially sold to the Billman family.  They also owned the property where Uncle Dewey lived.

This house was later moved up the bluff to its present location.  However, I have no idea how they ever got it up the bluff with a team of horses. Sometimes getting a pickup loaded with hay or a wagon-load of hay up the bluff with a tractor was quite challenging.

If the house had been built on the same side of the creek as the saw mill, I might have assumed it was the family’s business.  However, being on opposite sides means that is unlikely since there are times that crossing the river without a bridge would have been impossible.  The closest sizeable bridge was on the road north of the property.  Traveling from down by the river up to the  road, across the bridge, and back to the sawmill would have been quite a trek. The only other bridge  across the bridge at the time  at the time was a foot bridge south of where the house sat, although I don’t know exactly where it was located. 

 

Another Pre-Dates 1900

The last man-made feature of the property that pre-dates 1900 is the dining room on the house.  It was built sometime in the 1880s.  I am not sure exactly where it sat, but it was in the general area of the current house.

 

The Exact Location

If you get the idea that you might try to go find the wall and road, I will warn you that if you don’t know where it is, you likely won’t find it.  Also, reaching it is going to require a lot of difficult walking, including climbing bluffs and over rocks while fighting thorn-covered trees and brush.